Frank Lorenzo
(19) USC Trojans at (9) UCLA Bruins (-4, 61 o/u)
One of the best games of week 13 features a rivalry matchup between the USC Trojans (7-3, 6-2 Pac-12) and the UCLA Bruins (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Kick-off is Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on ABC. The winner will be in the driver’s seat to claim the Pac-12 South title.
After dropping a game to Utah in late October, Southern Cal has posted two wins in a row, putting up big offensive numbers against Washington State (44-17) and Cal (38-30). Those wins have the Trojans back in the top-25, but they will be facing a top-ten Bruins team this Saturday. After Arizona State was upset by Oregon State last weekend, this game between bitter rivals is now for first place in the Pac-12’s South division.
“It’s a big rivalry against UCLA like it’s always been here at SC and you know, I never beat them since I have been here so it’s definitely a big game for me personally so we’re going to be working really hard this week to get after the quarterback,” said USC defensive end Leonard Williams. The quarterback he will be looking to “get after” is UCLA’s Brent Hundley.
Hundley, a dynamic, dual-threat QB, has a 2-0 record against USC, throwing for 442 yards and one touchdown while adding 90 yards and four majors on the ground.
UCLA coach Jim Mora is excited at the stakes of the game. “It’s always a fun game when you play your crosstown rival, and it’s great to have something at stake,” said Mora. “I think I know when I got here, that’s one of the things I heard is it would be great to have this game be a game that has meaning and consequence in the Pac-12 if not nationally and I think this one does so it just adds to it, it adds to what is already an amazing rivalry.”
The Bruins are four-point favorites and the game total is at 61 points. Southern Cal is 1-4 ATS in its last five games when on the road against UCLA.
(Photo credit: Bobak Ha’Eri (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)
